Emeriti faculty as mentors: the benefits and rewards of mentoring the next generation

ABSTRACT

This holistic single-case study reports on the benefits mentors derived from participating in the Increasing Minority Presence within Academia through Continuous Training (IMPACT) mentoring program. The IMPACT program was sponsored by the National Science Foundation Office for Broadening Participation in Engineering 15–7680 (awards #1542728 and #1542524). In this program, emeriti faculty were matched with underrepresented minority faculty in the engineering professoriate for career-focused mentorship. The conceptual framework of the Benefits of Being a Mentor grounded this study. Findings indicate mentors appreciate the opportunity to give back and remain engaged in the field, to relive past academic career experiences, and to support the next generation of engineering professors while adjusting to retirement. These findings aligned with the conceptual framework on three factors: rewarding experience, improved job performance, and generativity. Implications for administrators and faculty, as well as additional research areas, are discussed.     

An assessment model for proof comprehension in undergraduate mathematics

Although proof comprehension is fundamental in advanced undergraduate mathematics courses, there has been limited research on what it means to understand a mathematical proof at this level and how such understanding can be assessed. In this paper, we address these issues by presenting a multidimensional model for assessing proof comprehension in undergraduate mathematics. Building on Yang and Lin’s (Educational Studies in Mathematics 67:59–76, 2008) model of reading comprehension of proofs in high school geometry, we contend that in undergraduate mathematics a proof is not only understood in terms of the meaning, logical status, and logical chaining of its statements but also in terms of the proof’s high-level ideas, its main components or modules, the methods it employs, and how it relates to specific examples. We illustrate how each of these types of understanding can be assessed in the context of a proof in number theory.     

Application of polyurethane geocomposites to help maintain track geometry for high-speed ballasted railway tracks

There are many issues surrounding the performance of critical assets on high-speed ballasted railway lines. At assets like switch & crossings and bridge transitions high track forces can be produced resulting in higher ballast settlements and hence track misalignments. The latter result in higher track forces and hence more settlement, leading to the need for increased track maintenance to ensure comfort and safety. Current technologies for solving issues like ballast movement under high-speed loading regimes are limited. However, a technique that has been well used across the UK and now increasingly overseas to stabilise and reinforce ballasted railway tracks is the application of in-situ polyurethane polymers, termed XiTRACK. This paper discusses how this technique can be used to solve these types of long-standing issues and presents actual polymer application profiles at two typical critical sites, namely a junction and a transition onto concrete slab-track.     

Teacher behavior,student interest and affective learning: putting theory to practice

Students of Project Adapt (PA), an instructional program for at-risk middle school students in Brooklyn NY, have displayed startling improvement on cognitive outcome measures. Teacher given grades and standardized tests illuminate the progress students have made since entering the program. The current investigation attempts to analyze PA on students' affective responses in a pre/post-test experimental design. Upon entering PA, students completed measures of interest, affect, and their previous teachers' behavior (pre). These ratings were then compared to end of year ratings on the same instruments (post). Results indicate students' perceive PA teachers utilizing different behaviors than their previous teachers. Additionally, student affect and interest increased significantly. Results of this study have implications for both instructional researchers and educational practitioners.     

Conservation Behavior as the Outcome of Environmental Education

Abstract

Knowledge and attitude levels concerning water resources were compared for elementary, secondary science, and other secondary teachers who are using (n = 56) and not using (n = 95) a computerized Water Resource Management Simulator (WRMS). The WRMS, a unique multi-user interactive computer simulation (MICS) is designed to improve the understanding of the major factors in wise water resource management. WRMS experience increased water knowledge for the total population as well as for subgroups. Types of knowledge gained centered around (1) different technologies applied, (2) water as a limiting factor, and (3) the potential of conservation to solve water supply problems. No significant shift in overall attitude was observed, however, a slight negative correlation existed between knowledge and attitude scores. WRMS users were confident that nature could solve water supply problems before problems become serious. User confidence suggests a need to study the influence of computer simulation's compression of time for natural cycles such as the water cycle.     

Preliminary development of a measure of sibling relational maintenance behaviors: Scale development and initial findings

Two studies were conducted to examine the use of relational maintenance behaviors in the sibling relationship. In the first study, the specific relational maintenance behaviors used by siblings were identified. A principal components factor analysis of 70 previously generated behaviors used by 363 participants revealed six factors: confirmation, humor, social support, family visits, escape, and verbal aggression. In the second study, the link between the six relational maintenance behaviors used by siblings and the relational outcomes of liking, commitment, and trust was explored. Results indicate the confirmation, humor, social support, and family visits relational maintenance behaviors are correlated positively with liking, commitment, and trust, but the verbal aggression relational maintenance behavior failed to correlate with liking, commitment, or trust.